What We Investigate

What We Investigate

The FBI works around the globe to combat the most dangerous criminal and security threats facing our country—from international and domestic terrorists to spies on U.S. soil…from cyber villains to corrupt government officials…from mobsters to violent street thugs…from child predators to serial killers.

We currently have jurisdiction over violations in more than 200 categories of federal law. They generally fall under our three national security priorities and our five criminal priorities as follows:

National Security Priorities:

1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack

Our overriding priority is to head off terrorist attacks by identifying and disrupting the plots of international and domestic terrorist operatives and cells, by cutting off terrorist financing and undercutting other forms of support provided by terrorist sympathizers, by sharing information and intelligence with partners worldwide, and by providing strategic and operational threat analysis to decision makers and the wider intelligence community.

Our work in Norfolk is led by our Tidewater Joint Terrorism Task Force, created in December 2001 following the 9/11 attacks. The task force—which includes FBI agents and law enforcement and intelligence officers from local, state, military, and federal agencies—runs down terrorism leads, develops and investigates cases, provides support for special events, and proactively identifies threats that may impact the area and the nation.

The work of the TJTTF is bolstered by the Norfolk Field Intelligence Group, commonly referred to as the Norfolk FIG. Created in September 2003, the FIG centralizes and spearheads the analysis and sharing of terrorism-related intelligence (and intelligence on all major threats) both inside and outside the Bureau. The FIG routinely produces threat assessments concerning potential terrorism targets in the Hampton Roads region, including military facilities, transportation facilities, tourism facilities, and critical infrastructure sites. The FIG also remains responsive to national collection and analysis needs, while maintaining strong relationships with the regional intelligence community to address its needs.

2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage

Today, more foreign spies—not just traditional adversaries but also allies, hackers, and terrorists—are trying to steal more of our secrets from more places than ever before. What do they want? Our country’s juiciest classified information, of course—from military plans to national security vulnerabilities to our own intelligence activities. But increasingly, they also want our country’s trade secrets—innovations that give us a leg up in the global marketplace—and seemingly harmless technologies that could be used to develop or improve weapons of mass destruction.

In Norfolk, we have a dedicated foreign counterintelligence squad that works to keep weapons of mass destruction and other embargoed technologies from falling into wrong hands, to protect secrets of the U.S. government (including the intelligence community) and critical national assets, and to help strengthen the national threat picture by proactively gathering information and intelligence. The large military presence in Hampton Roads, combined with hundreds of defense contractors handling classified information and contracts, requires extra vigilance on the part of Norfolk FBI agents. Our work includes knowing the key targets in our territory, developing strategic partnerships with area institutions, and disrupting the efforts of insiders and key nations.

3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes

The FBI leads the national effort to investigate high-tech crimes, including cyber-based terrorism and espionage, computer and network intrusions, and major cyber fraud and identify theft. To stay in front of current and emerging trends, we gather and share information and intelligence with public and private sector partners worldwide.

In Norfolk, we have a squad dedicated to cyber crimes and attacks, and we participate in a variety of multi-agency partnerships. See our Partnerships webpage for details.

Corruption in government threatens our country’s democracy and national security, impacting everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected…to verdicts handed down in courts…to the quality of our roads and schools. Public corruption takes a significant toll on our pocketbooks, too, wasting billions of tax dollars every year.

Our investigations in Norfolk focus on violations of federal law—such as bribery, contract and procurement fraud, antitrust violations, environmental crimes, and election fraud—by public officials in local, state, and federal government, as well as violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The FBI is the lead agency for investigating violations of federal civil rights laws…and we take that responsibility seriously. Specifically, we investigate and work to prevent hate crime, color of law abuses (police brutality or deprivation of constitutional rights by a personal holding an official position), human trafficking, and freedom of access to clinic entrances violations. These are the four top priorities of our civil rights program.

Most of the Norfolk Division’s efforts in this priority focus on illegal drugs, organized crime, and violent gang activity through a variety of law enforcement partnerships. See our Partnerships webpage for details.

Fraud—the art of deliberate deception for unlawful gain—is as old as history; the term “white-collar crime” was reportedly coined in 1939 and has since become synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. Today’s financial criminals and con artists are more savvy and sophisticated than ever, engineering everything from complex stock and health care frauds and intellectual property rip-offs.

Even with our post-9/11 national security responsibilities, we continue to play a key role in combating violent crime in big cities and local communities across the United States. Beyond our work targeting violent gangs and other criminal enterprises, we focus on such issues as crimes against children (including online predators), crime on Indian reservations, the search for wanted fugitives, serial killings, kidnapping, murder for hire, bank robberies, and special crimes like the carriage of weapons on aircraft and crime on the high seas.

In Norfolk, we work closely with a host of law enforcement partners to address the full range of violent crimes. See our Partnerships webpage for details.